Merck Chemicals has announced the opening of a ‘Pigments & Cosmetics Technology Application Network’ (TANC) in Shanghai in an effort it says, to better meet the growing needs of Chinese consumer.

According to the company's Senior Vice President, Inese Lowenstein; “China is one of the most dynamic and important markets in the world for our pigment & cosmetics business.”

And that on the back of the expansion, the new network will now be able to offer color proposals based on powder-coating technology as well as SPF (Sun Protection Factor) testing to chinese consumers.

The vp further revealed that to enable more accurate recommendations to clients on color matching and analyses, investments will be made in the form of upgraded chromameters and microscopes.

For the cosmetics market, pigments are most often used in color cosmetics products, such as lipsticks, nail varnish and eye shadow, and are vitally important to distinguish products and to provide formulators with the right shades and effects for this fashion-driven and fast-changing sector.

The Pigments & Cosmetics Technology Application Network evolved from the Merck China Customer Support Center, which was established at Fudan University in 1998, then featuring just simple printing applications. The center then moved into Merck China’s Songjiang Site in 2008, offering basic services for plastic, printing, coating and cosmetic applications.

Targeting the Chinese market

Back in 2009, Merck acquired Suzhou Taizhu Technology Development, one of the biggest suppliers of effects pigments in the China and Asia Pacific market in a move it then said would give it a crucial footing in the ever growing market.

The company was bought for €28m ($41m) which included Taizhu’s production site in Taicang, 40km from Shanghai, together with the entire sales and marketing operations, which served both the Chinese and international market.

Then, Klaus Bischoff, head of Merck’s performance & life science chemicals division underlined that there were further synergies to be derived from Taizhu’s existing customer base, and stressed that the company’s reputation for quality has given it a good name within the industry.

China leading in the pigment segment...

China has evolved as one of the world’s leading providers of pigments, partly due to the fact that players there have developed a reputation for competitive pricing and high quality.

The rapid evolution of the industry in China means that the country is expected to be the second largest producer of effects pigments in the world, second only to the United States.

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